BANGOR – Perhaps the worst thing the Presque Isle boys basketball team did during the first quarter of Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B final was to hold Ryan Martin scoreless on just two field-goal attempts.

That meant the 5-foot-8 sophomore from Maranacook of Readfield was well rested for the rest of the game, and he lit up the Bangor Auditorium for 35 points over the final three periods as the Black Bears rallied for a 69-57 victory and their first regional title.

“I just had to start moving and using screens better,” said Martin. “I knew they had a tough defense, but I had to keep working hard to get the ball.”

Martin made 15 of 24 shots from the field to raise his three-game tourney total to 102 points – one shy of the Eastern B mark of 103 set by Van Buren’s Matt Rossignol in 1985.

“[Martin] was everything that everybody said he was,” said Presque Isle coach Tim Prescott, “and he’s exactly the kind of player toward the end of an up-and-down game that is going to create a lot of havoc because everything he does in a broken-court situation is good. He doesn’t make bad decisions, he took a couple of maybe questionable shots and made them. He’s a very good player, and he’s got a good supporting cast. They didn’t make a lot of mistakes.”

The win sends 20-1 Maranacook to the state final here Friday at 8:45 p.m. against Western Maine champ Mountain Valley of Rumford.

Maranacook took a 12-5 lead on three early 3-pointers by senior Jimmy Palmer and a fourth by sophomore Will Bardaglio.

But Presque Isle (17-4) took control behind big first halves from forward Greg Whitaker and point guard Matt McGlinn, who combined for 36 points as the Wildcats shot a stunning 74 percent (14 of 19) from the field to grab a 37-32 halftime lead.

The 6-5 Whitaker not only brought the ball up court to limit the effectiveness of Maranacook’s defensive pressure, but he finished virtually at will, making 8 of 10 shots in the first two quarters.

When Whitaker wasn’t finishing, McGlinn was making six of his first nine shots en route to a 15-point half.

But Martin was just warming up. He scored 14 points in the second quarter and 13 in the third period with an assortment of medium- and long-range jumpers along with an occasional lane penetration.

He scored 22 of 24 Maranacook points during one stretch, helping his team rally to a 45-45 tie on a scoop shot that produced a three-point play with 2:40 left in the third quarter.

“There are very few players in the state who can make those shots,” said Maranacook coach Rob Schmidt. “He doesn’t want to lose, and he’s going to do whatever he can to win, and he needed to tonight.”

The Black Bears took the lead for good when Martin fed Bardaglio (12 points) for a 3-pointer good for a 56-53 advantage with 5:16 left.

That sparked a 12-2 Maranacook run that also featured Kevin Leary’s baseline drive and 3-pointer off a Martin steal as the Black Bears moved out to a 65-55 lead with 2:36 left.

Whitaker finished with 27 points and five rebounds, but scored just six points after intermission while getting only three field-goal attempts.

“McGlinn started bringing it up in the second half, that was their decision,” said Schmidt. “We just really wanted to clamp down on everybody, especially [Whitaker] and McGlinn. I don’t think we did the greatest job of denying him the ball, but it may have been enough to deter it.”

McGlinn added 21 points for the Wildcats.

“I think in the end it was their quickness and ability to play the passing lanes and get up and cause us to get a little wider and deeper in our offense than we wanted to be,” said Prescott. “That’s how they had to play, and they did.”

BLACK BEARS 69, WILDCATS 57

Presque Isle (18-3) Maranacook (20-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

York 0 2 0 0 0 Poulin 3 10 0 6

Belanger 0 1 0 0 0 Martin 15 24 35

Brooker 0 1 0 0 0 Denbow 1 2 2

Cheney 1 1 0 0 2 Hewett 0 0 0

McGlinn 8 17 4 4 21 Bardaglio 4 10 2 2 12

Kingsbury 2 5 1 2 5 Mason 0 0 0

Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 Palmer 3 4 9

Doyen 0 0 0 0 0 Gerrity 0 0 0

Coffin 1 3 0 1 2 Leary 2 4 5

Whitaker 10 13 5 6 27 Galouch 0 0 0

Spalding 0 2 0

Roberts 0 0 0 0

Totals 22 43 10 13 57 Totals 28 56 69

Presque Isle 19 37 49 57

Maranacook 14 32 49 69

3-pt. goals – Presque Isle (3-12): Whitaker 2-3, McGlinn 1-4, Belanger 0-1, Brooker 0-1, Coffin 0-1, York 0-2; Maranacook (7-18): Palmer 3-4, Bardaglio 2-6, Leary 1-2, Martin 1-4, Poulin 0-2